Door operated safety device for oil-burning furnaces



March 28, 1950 Y F. B. SCANLON ET AL 2,502,064

DOOR OPERATED SAFETY DEVICE FOR OIL BURNING FURNACES Filed Feb. 12, 19482 Sheets-Sheet 1 Frank B. Scan/on Gearge A. Isaac IN VEN TORS March 28,1950 F. B. SCANLON ET AL 2,502,064 DOOR OPERATED SAFETY DEVICE FOR OILBURNING FURNACES Filed Feb. 12, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Frank B. Scan/onGeorge .4. Isaac JNVENTORS BY. MM M Patented Mar. 28, 1950 UN [1T ED SZTES PATENT OFFICE DOOR OPERATED. SAFETY DEVICE FOR OIL-BURNING FURNACESFrankBzScanlon, Beachwood, and George'A. Isaac, Audubon; N. J.

ApplicationFebruary 12, 1948,..Serial No. 7,986

ject matter disclosed in co pendingsapplication:

A further object of' the present invention is to provide asafetyattachmention oil burners including a valve for controlling thefuel .sup*-- ply to a furnace, a switch for the igniting mechanismcircuit of the furnace and novel and improved means for'a'ctuating thevalveand the" switch to prevent continued operation of the furnaceshould" the combustion chamber door of the latter be opened' duetoanintern'ali explosion within the furnacecombustiom chamber.

A still further aimof the present-invention is to provide a safetydevice of the aforemen tioned character that -is'siinpleand'pra'ctical-inconstruction, strong:and'reliable'inuse, small andcompact in structure;. neat: and attractive in: appearance, relativelyinexpensive to manufam ture, and otherwise well adapted for theipurposes for which the same is intended;v

Other objects and advantages resida in". the

details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafterdescribed and claimed, refer-- ence. being bad: to the accompanyingdrawings forming part hereof, wherein liker numerals refer to like partsthroughout; and-in which.

Figure l is? a; longitudinal i vertical: sectional: View of the presentinvention, and" showing the" valve holding bar disengaged'fronrthe'valve;

Figure 2 is: a perspectives view of. the lower portion of the. presentsafetyd'evice', and: with parts of the burner fuel linebrokenraway;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view'showing the present invention applied tothe combustion chamber: door ofrthezoilburner;

Figure 4.- is: an: enlargedi: horizontal sectional? view takensubstantially/"an ther plane: of section line 4-4 of Figure- 3;:

2. Figure 5 is a transverse horizontal sectional View takensubstantially on the plane of section line 5-5 of Figure 1; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional view takensubstantially on the plane ofsectionlin'e E-Bof Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, wherein for the purpose ofillustration, there is disclosed apreferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the numeral l0 represents a substantially cylindrical chamberwhich is divided into an upper fuel compartment l2 and lowerfuelcompartrnent- M'byan integral partition l6 the' central portion ofwhich isdepressed to provide a substantially conicalvalve seat I8 havinga plurality of fluid passages or apertures 20.

Extending upwardly from the chamber Hl, is a. raised central, annular.portion 22 that fri-ctionally engages the lower'open end 24 of asubstantially cylindrical housing 26 having a rounded, closed upper'end28. The lower end 24 of the housing 2'6 supports a plurality ofcircumferentially spaced screws 30 that receivably engage internallythreaded apertures 32 provided in the raised central portion 22 toremovably secure the housing 26 to the chamber I ll.

Integrally formed with and projecting upwardly from the center of theraised central portion 2'2; is an externally threaded sleeve 34 thatreceivably engages an adjustable collar 36 having a central guideopening 38 that aligns the opening 40 formedin" theraised centralportion 22. the collar 36 and sleeve 34. Integrally formed withth'e'upper rounded end 28 of thehousing 26, is a guide sleeve 44, havingan opening 46" that aligns the opening'38' in'the'guide collar 36.Slidably positioned in the openings38, 40 and 481s a substantiallyvertical, cylindrical valve 48 having a conical end: portion 50 that isadapted to frictionally engageithevalve seat lt. Mounted on the valve 48in any suitable manner, is alaterally extendingswitch actuating rod 52that isslidably positioned in asubstantially channel shaped switch.compartment or: recess 54 integrally formed with the housing 26V Looselyembracing the valve 48,-.is a coil spring 55 which is biased between theswitch actuating rod 52 and the inner face of'the rounded upper end 28to. urge the conical end portion 50 of the valve 48 into the valve seatl8. to close the apertures 20.

Suitably fixed iii-compartment 54 is a conventional precision switchmechanism 58 having, a resilient actuating arm 60- and a spring urgedswitch control plunger 6-2 that isnormally, urged to a -circuit'closedposition to complete the cir A sealing gasket: 42 is'interposed between.

cuit between the pair of conductive wires 64 and 66 that are connectedto the switch mechanism 58 and the electrical igniting mechanism circuitfor an oil burning furnace 68.

Communicating with the upper fuel compartment [2, is an inlet nipplethat is operatively connected to a suitable source of fuel by a conduitl2, and extending outwardly from the lower fuel compartment M, is anoutlet nipple M that is connected to the delivery line 16 for thefurnace 68.

In practical use of the present invention, the valve 48 is gripped byits knurled upper end 18 and raised against act on of the spring 48, sothat the transverse aperture or opening 88 therein will align with anopening 82 in the sleeve 44. One end of a valve holding bar 84 isfrictionally positioned in the openings 80 and 82 to retain the valve 48in an open pos tion, and the switch 58 in a circ it closed position, asshown best in Figure 1 of the drawings.

Su tably fixed on the frame 88 of a hing d combust on chamber door 81 ofthe fur ace 68, is the inner end of a pair of snaced parallel arms 88havin a pluralitv of lon i udina ly spaced open ngs 90 that adi tablvsupport a p vot in 92. The p n 92 s lectively engages one of a p uralityof longitud nallv spaced apert res: 94 form d in a co nec ing link 96one end of wh ch is pivoted to the bifurc ted en 98 of a so k t Hillthat threa n lv engages the free end 182 of the va ve holding bar 84.

Sho ld the door 81 be opened from an internal explosion within the oilburning chamb r 68. the same will contact the u per portion of link 96to sw ng the link 96 and the bar 84 will be pulled tow rd the furnace 68to disenga e the bar 84 from the sleeve 44 and valve 48 thus caus ingthe valve 48 to slide downwardly in the housing 28 to c ose theapertures 20. As the valve 8 slides downwardly, the switch actuating rod52 will frictionallv engage the arm an to force the plunger 62 inwardlyin the switch mechanism 58 to open the igniting mechanism circuit forthe furnace 68.

In view of the foregoing descr ption taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of thedevice will be quite apparent to those ski led in this art. A moredetailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shownand de cribed a preferred embodiment of the invention the same issusceptible to certain changes fully com rehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A safety device for oil burning furnaces comprising a cut-off valvefor the fuel line of a burner, a switch for controlling the ignitingmechanism of a furnace. a laterally projecting arm carried by said valvefor actuating said switch, means urging said valve to closed position,and means normally hOldlIlg the valve in open position, saidlast-mentioned means including a slidable holding rod adapted to engagesaid valve and a rockable link for actuating said rod to release thevalve, said link adapted to be disposed in the path of a furnace door.

2. In an oil burning furnace having a door and anignition mechanismswitch, a safety device comprising a housing having a recess therein forsaid switch, a fuel chamber in said housing through which fuel passes tothe fuel line of the furnace, said chamber having an entrance port, avalve slidably carried by said housing for closing said port, alaterally projecting arm carried by said valve and disposed within thehousing for operating the switch, means urging the valve to a positionfor closing the port, means normally holdin the valve out of its closedposition and the arm from its switch operating position, and meansresponsive to an opening of the door for disengaging said last-mentionedmeans with said valve.

3. In combination with an oil burner having a door and an ignitingmechanism circuit, of a safety device comprising a hollow body forming afuel chamber and having a partition therein dividing the chamber intoupper and lower compartments, an inlet nipple carried by the body andleading to the upper compartment, an outlet nipple carried by the bodyand leading from the lower compartment, said outlet port adapted to beconnected to the fuel line of the furnace, an apertured valve seatprovided in said partition whereby fuel in said upper compartment passesinto said lower compartment, a housing detachably secured to said bodyand having a recess, a switch controlling the igniting mechanism circuitmounted in said recess, a cylindrical valve member slidably carried bysaid housing and having a tapered lower end for positioning in saidvalve seat to restrict a flow of fuel from said upper compartment intosaid lower compartment, a spring embracing the valve member and urgingthe same to its closed position, an arm carried by and projectinglaterally from said valve member for operating the switch, meansnormally holding the valve member in its open position, and meansresponsive to an explosion in the furnace for urging said last-mentionedmeans to a position for releasing the valve member, said arm actuatingsaid switch to a circuit-closing position simultaneously with themovement of said valve member to its closed position.

4. A safety device for oil burning furnaces, said device comprising acasing having a substantially horizontal partition therein for dividingthe casing into upper and lower compartments, said upper compartmenthaving an inlet and said lower compartment having an outlet, saidpartition including an opening for the passage of fuel from the uppercompartment into the lower compartment, a housing rising from thecasing, an elongated valve slidably carried by the housing and having anend portion for closing the opening in the partition, a switch for theignition mechanism of a furnace mounted within the housing, an armsupported solely by the valve and positioned within the housing foractuating the switch upon movement of the valve to its closed position,means yieldingly urging the valve to its closed position, and meansdisposed exteriorly of the housingrfor retaining the stantiallyhorizontal partition therein for dividinto the lower compartment, saidupper compartment having an inlet and said lower compartment having anoutlet, a housing supported on and rising from the casing, a hollowswitch compartment projecting laterally from the housing, a valveslidably carried by the housing for entering the valve seat to close theopenings in the valve seat, a switch in said switch compartment, an armprojecting laterally from and movable with said valve for actuating theswitch upon movement of the valve to its closed position, means forurging the valve toward the valve seat, and means for retaining thevalve away from the valve seat.

FRANK B. SCANLON.

GEORGE A. ISAAC.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,295,658 Widman Feb. 25, 19191,327,999 Hill Jan. 13, 1920 1,568,588 Cushman Jan. 5, 1926 1,987,447Lum Jan. 8, 1935 2,080,485 Johnson May 18, 1937 2,145,820 Tucker Jan.31, 1939 2,469,082 Scanlon -1 May 3, 1949

